Author: Nigel Helyer
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Sonic Voyages
Imagine a child of the ‘jet-age’ living in an unobtrusive coastal village, mid-way between the dwelling of Blake, the artist, poet and visionary and that of his friend, the scientist and astronomer Halley. The child proceeds with eyes wide open to technics and ears tuned to poetics ……
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Electrical by Nature
Theoretical papers often quote Plato’s Cave – such a nice, primitive dawn of consciousness image, with its shadowy representations flickering sootily across the cave’s rear wall and the line of onlookers warming their backs by the fire! Strangely there is scant mention of the crackle of burning wood, or the sounds of those protagonists prancing…
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Practice
Dr. Nigel Helyer; is an internationally prominent sculptor and sound artist, whose interdisciplinary practice combines art and science to embrace our social, cultural and physical environments. He brings these concerns together in creative projects that prompt the community to engage with their cultural histories, identity and sense of place, inviting us to examine the abstract…
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An Unrequited Place
Year : 1992 Exhibited. As part of the Working in Public project, John Barrett-Lennard and ArtSpace, Sydney, 1992. Materials. Steel Bell, Performer, Radiophonic Broadcast. Dimensions. 25m x 12m overall installation ~ performance space with Nationwide live broadcast at Midnight for 21 days. Nelia Justo tolls the midnight bell. Notes. The Story so far…Catalogue text for…
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Voyages from Eden to Utopia; Hercules
Year : 1984 EXHIBITED Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, UK (1984) MATERIALS Section 1. Vessel elements: pit fired/blackened earthenware. Section 2. Pillars: wood and metal-lath armature with raw clay cladding (air dried). Section 3. Vessel/lamp elements: copper foil, stoneware; paraffin lights. DIMENSIONS Overall floor Coverage: 14m x 8m (112 m2) Section 1. Max. linear dimension 20cm (x…
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The Transit of Venus
Exhibited. Nykytaiteen Museo, Helsinki (Kiasma) 1999. Auckland City Art Gallery 1999. And as radio broadcast for YLE Finland and ABC Australia. A collaborative project with Simo Alitalo. Materials. Multi Channel 3D audio system, Underwater audio system, Life-rafts, Hydrophones. Dimensions. Installation footprint 12m x 12m x 3.5m Notes. The Transit of Venus is a major project…
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Toll
A Sound-sculpture installation located in two sites. Exhibited. The Muu Galerie, Helsinki, Finland and at the Cholera Basin, Helsinki Harbour 1996. Materials. x2 Bronze Bells, x32 Voltaic cells and electronic circuits, audio equipment with ISDN telephone line. Zinc wall texts. Dimension. Gallery installation :- 6m x 6m, Harbour installation :- variable. Toll. This project was…
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A Symphony for Other Cultures
Exhibited. The Performance Space, Sydney, 1987. Materials. Section 1. Pipe element: Rough sawn Oregon timber, Plywood, Steel fittings and industrial turbine. Section 2. Fan corridor: x 2 industrial turbines on timber mounts. Section 3. Bell element: Raw clay over wood and expanded metal armature, with plywood mould board attached. Dimensions. Section 1: – 7m x…
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The Lament
Exhibited. W.I.N.D.O.W. Gallery, Sydney as part of SoundCulture 1991. Materials. Form ply exterior, Zinc speaker cone with audio system and x2 channel audio loop, Viewing ports with x5 military models and video screen. Dimensions. Entire gallery interior, frontage access only. This small city storefront gallery was architecturally modified, replacing the normal viewing space with an…
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Sonic Landscapes
From June 1999 until September 2001 Nigel Helyer worked as an Artist in Residence at Lake Technology in Sydney, http://www.lake.com developing the Sonic Landscapes Virtual Audio Reality system. The project was funded for the first twelve months by the New Media Board of the Australia Council for the Arts under its Art and Industry partnerships…